The 50th Anniversary of Apollo 11

Project Apollo Gold

On Saturday, July 20th of 2019, Model Rocketeers from around the globe will be celebrating the Apollo 11 Lunar Landing’s 50th Anniversary with rocket launches, picnics, and parties! Will you be a part of this world wide rocket launch event? Now is the time to start planning!

Club and individual launches can range from the simplest versions of beginner rockets to highly coordinated media events with launches of scale Saturn’s / Apollo’s.

Sections, clubs, and rocket friends simply set a plan to do this, figure out how much you want to do, what is reasonable and within your means, then start their checklists and countdowns.

This is however, a once-in-a-lifetime chance for NAR members to get great positive exposure for our Aero STEM space oriented hobby, reconnect with former members, create more BAR’s or even bring another generation into the wonder of low, mid, and high power rocketry. If you are looking for a time to grow your club – this is it!

Apollo 11 in flight. Photo courtesy of NASA.

Starting Simple – Plan a launch! This is the most easily accomplished and successful plan and everything beyond it requires real coordination and effort. Just have FUN and launch rockets! But get your launch registered on the NAR calendar on this page.

Stepping up a bit – How about inviting the local Boy and Girl Scout, CAP, AFJROTC and 4-H aerospace clubs to attend and have a “Make and Take” pre-launch session with simple plastic fin-can type rockets that recover on streamers? Make sure your club has a simple piece of literature to hand out to the visitors who might want to participate in your next scheduled launch. If possible, take names and e-mail addresses for contacts and announcements of future launches.

The “Land the Eagle” competition is an excellent attraction. The contest objective is to launch a model rocket and have it land on an area of the launch field representing the moon. The contestant whose rocket lands closest to the ‘Tranquility Base’ target is the winner. The suggested rules for the Section event are described on this page while the suggested rules for a school launch described on this page. The contest description can also be downloaded from the “Related Documents” area at the bottom of this page. You can find an alternative version of the contest below which uses an outline of the base of a Saturn V as the “target”. Results for all contests can be submitted for posting to the “Land The Eagle Contest Winners” web page.

Really want some attention? Launch a scale Saturn/Apollo. This is a bigger commitment than most modelers realize. Now is the time to start planning that build – Saturn’s are complex and take some skill. You can also make a visual representation of the Saturn V at your site to help display its true size. Details are in the Saturn V document below.

Launch your Rocket with Space Camp’s Global Rocket Launch Challenge July 16, 2019 – If you’re planning a commemorative launch of any kind for the 50th Apollo 11 anniversary, you can now register that launch to be counted in a global launch record attempt by the Space and Rocket Center (Space Camp) in Huntsville, AL.

Anticipating a lot of rocket launches taking place that day all over the world to honor the Apollo 11 liftoff by rocket enthusiasts, Space Camp is attempting to compile a list of flights and claim a single day record. Go to this link and put in your information about who you are, where you are flying and how many flights you are making. This can be done as an individual or as a Section. Any level or type models are allowed but as NAR members you will (of course) follow the safety code. Then verify with Space Camp that you made the flights. Here’s a chance to have your commemorative launches count for more than just a local celebration.

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